What About Me?
by PvtBrook
Summary: "He didn't leave us, he left you. He left because of you and you still can't let him go. Chasing a son that doesn't want you; what about me?" OR Alicia gets tired of her mother and finally gets rid of all her pent up anger. (Based on post from Tumblr)


**I found a post on tumblr with the prompt and I knew I had to write it. Didn't turn out as planned but when do my fics ever? Hope you enjoy!**

 **EDIT: So sorry about the messed up chapter and the lines and stuff. I fixed it!**

Ever since Nick left, or even before, Madison hasn't payed any attention to Alicia. No matter what she did, her mother brushed her off and claimed she was being dramatic.

Granted, she had been in similar situations with her mother every time Nick had disappeared when she was younger, but this time felt different. He was gone with a different mindset and for different reasons and Madison couldn't try and control it anymore.

It's been...who knows how long, maybe a week? Sure, it's been about a week since he ran off and all Madison wants is to find him. Alicia can't seem to think of how they could find her brother in the middle of a desert. There were too many directions he could have gone in and they could be going completely opposite of him.

There were also obstacles that stopped the group. Being constantly attacked by a zombie - or as Strand preferred to call them, 'walkers' - makes trying to find someone hard. It slows down the trip and makes Madison more and more aggravated. Also, it was hard to avoid them when you're driving around in a loud car in a quiet setting.

Alicia was already getting angry at her mom about this, but she filed it under being annoyed about their situation; they were all tired and didn't have much water or food left. But then something happened that pushed Alicia's anger over the limit.

It had been a slow night and they were resting. Alicia was lounging in the back of the truck with Ofelia while her mother and Strand were sitting on the truck's hood. Alicia had her arms behind her head and her eyes shut when she thought she heard something rustle. Figuring it was just her mom or Strand, or maybe even Ofelia moving around, she left it be.

Until she heard it again.

She cracked an eye open just before she felt something wrap around her ankle and pull her.

She screamed when she saw a decaying, bloody man gripping her leg. She kicked out with her other foot and the thing let go. Ofelia shot up and pulled Alicia back onto the truck and helped her stand up. Strand and Madison sprinted around the car, Strand taking a shot at the walker before it dropped lifelessly to the ground.

"There's another one!" Ofelia yelled, pointing behind the adults.

Saying another _one_ was an understatement. There had to be at least eight.

Alicia picked up the butterfly knife she had been carrying around flipped it open, then started running towards the hoard.

Until Madison pulled her backwards so hard she almost stabbed herself with her own knife.

"Um, no. You're staying back here!"

Alicia looked at her angrily. "Mom I'm not a little kid anymore, let me _do_ something for once!"

" _No!_ Stay there!" Madison yelled as she charged forwards to help the other two. Alicia was staring into the fight in front of her until she heard a hiss behind her. She whipped around and barely had time to react before a walker jumped on her.

The teen fell to the ground, and this time she _did_ cut herself with her knife as she dropped it. The walker had fallen on top of her and it took all of Alicia's strength to keep its mouth away from her. She pushed against its chest and shoulders but it kept snapping at her. The walker's fingernails were digging into her shoulders until they broke skin. She tried to knee the thing off of her, but it just kept hissing at her.

Finally, there was a sickening _splotch_ and the undead was knocked off of her, lying a couple feet away.

While Alicia lied there to catch her breath, Ofelia knelt next to her. "Are you alright?" She asked worriedly. "You weren't hurt were you?"

"I'm-"

 _"ALICIA!"_

The girl looked upwards into the glaring eyes of her mother. "What the hell did I tell you? Stay out of it!"

"I did!" Alicia yelled as she sat up. She got onto her feet and scowled at Madison. "I wasn't near the fight, thanks to you!"

"Then you should have been paying more attention to your surroundings!"

Ofelia put her hands up in front of her. "Maybe we should calm down? We don't want to-"

"God, stop acting so _childish_ , Alicia! Do you have to argue with me over every single little thing?!"

Alicia stared at Madison icily. " _Excuse me?_ If memory serves you started yelling at _me!"_

Madison huffed and started to stalk to the truck. "All this time wasted now we could have been out looking for Nick! Your _brother?_ Remember him?"

"How could I forget him with you reminding us all of him every five seconds?! Just face it, mom! _He left you!"_

Madison spun around and marched right back in front of Alicia. "He left _all_ of us! He's apart of our family, Alicia! He's _your_ brother!"

"He didn't leave _us_ , he left _you!_ He left because of you and you still _can't let him go!_ " Alicia laughed humorlessly. "Chasing a son that doesn't want you... what about me, mom? I'm still here and you _never_ seemed to care about that!"

Madison's glare faded, but Alicia had already gone past the point of return. "When we were younger it was always _'Look at what Nick did, sweetie! He got an A on his spelling test!' 'Look, Nick is so smart, why can't you be like him?' 'Where did he go? Is Nick off doing drugs again?'"_ Alicia clenched her fists. "Guess what? He _doesn't want you!_ "

Alicia was huffing by the end of her rant. Her arms were trembling and there were tears in her eyes. She was so caught up in yelling at her mother, that she didn't notice Ofelia and Strand walk a few metres away to give them privacy.

Madison was staring at her daughter in sorrow. She tried to pull her into a hug, "Baby-"

Alicia brushed her away. "No, you don't get to act like the loving mother. You never acted that way towards me before; not when Dad died, not when Matt died, not when any of this started. I bet you never even realized I had _this!"_

The brunette tugged her sleeve up and Madison gasped. Her mother saw Alicia's handiwork for the first time since she gave it to herself weeks ago. The dark lines of the rose obvious against her pale skin. How her mother never noticed it before was a mystery to her.

She jerked the sleeve of her flannel back over the marking and pushed past her mom towards the truck. "But let's go find Nick, right?"


End file.
